From the way she walked to the way she talked, Olivia couldn't help but admit that she was taken with the blonde. More often than not, she found herself admiring Alex. She would stare whether Alex was playing with Noah or simply sleeping beside her.

At the moment, Alex was sitting cross-legged on Noah's bedroom floor, wearing blue jeans and a cream colored sweater with the sleeves pushed up around her elbows. She was leaning forward on one elbow, chin propped against it, watching Noah play with his train set intently. Her other hand was readjusting a train that had fallen off of the tracks.

The way Alex played with Noah made Olivia's heart swell. Ed had been great with Noah, there was no doubt about that, but Ed often wanted private time with her. He had no qualms requesting that Noah be put to bed early or that he stay home with Lucy while they went out to dinner or a show.

That was one thing that Olivia absolutely adored about Alex. The blonde never had a problem with bringing Noah along with them wherever they went. In fact, Alex often insisted that Noah came along with them and she always planned accordingly. Last week she had surprised both Olivia and Noah with tickets to a children's movie premiere in a local theater. Alex had endured an hour and a half of children's jokes, smiling happily the entire time even though Noah was seated between them. She had even begged Olivia to let Noah get some movie candy after the boy batted his eyelashes at the blonde. There was no doubt in Olivia's mind that Noah had Alex wrapped around his little finger.

"Mama!" Noah had finally noticed his mother standing in his bedroom doorway. Neither had heard Olivia arrive home from work.

Alex turned around as well and smiled at the brunette when she spotted her. "Hey Lieutenant. How was your day?"

"It was alright, much better now that I'm home," Olivia replied as she got down on her knees and pressed a kiss to Noah's forehead. "Hey sweetheart. You about ready for dinner?"

"No! More trains," Noah replied as he picked one up off of the track and tapped it against the ground a few times.

"Well then, twenty more minutes while I heat up dinner. Did you have fun playing with Alex today?"

"Ya!" He exclaimed as he crawled over to the blonde and leaned forward so that he could settle his head in Alex's lap while smiling up at his mother.

"Is she as good as Lucy?" Olivia teased the little boy as she got up off of the ground and settled her hands on Alex's shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze.

"Better!" Noah replied as he giggled, pulling himself up off of Alex and returning to his train set.

"Looks like you're a winner, Alex. How was he?"

The blonde chuckled in response as she turned toward Olivia, taking the proffered hand and allowing the brunette to pull her up to her feet. "He was great as always. We went to the park for a few hours and he convinced me to let him get some ice cream before coming home. I really tried to hold out…"

Olivia laughed. "That would explain why he's not hungry."

"Yeah, sorry. Then we came back and have been playing with trains for the last two hours. I'll never understand what he finds so entertaining about them."

"Sounds like such a fun day for you," Olivia replied sarcastically. "I imagine you had better things to do on your Saturday but I really appreciate your willingness to watch him for me. Every now and then Lucy's schedule doesn't work with mine."

"It's no problem at all, I really do love spending time with him and getting to see you makes my day that much better."

"Well I return the sentiment. I'm going to go heat up some enchiladas from the other night. Will you have dinner with us?"

"Of course, it sounds delicious." Olivia nodded as she studied her son and Alex once more. She had the unexplainable urge to lean down and press a kiss to the top of Alex's head much like she had her son. She shook off the thought before exiting the room and heading toward the kitchen.

After dinner, Alex insisted on cleaning the dishes while Olivia cleaned Noah up. The domesticity of the situation hit the brunette in the moment. She had often found herself in a similar position with Ed. He had always insisted on washing the dishes while Olivia prepared Noah for bed. He insisted that it was more efficient that way and would allow them more private time together later.

Although Alex was different than Ed in that sense. She didn't request that Noah be put to bed early. Rather, she often let him stay up after his bedtime, insisting that they would just watch one more TV show or movie together. She had no idea why she compared Alex to Ed so much.

Once they were done, the three of them retired to the couch like they did most nights. Noah insisted on squeezing between the two women, spreading out across both of their laps.

"I really enjoy this," Olivia commented as she glanced over at Alex who was zoning in and out of the TV show. The blonde hummed curiously in response. "I enjoy spending time with you and Noah like this. Just watching TV shows and cuddling up." She smiled as she trailed her fingers through Noah's messy brown locks, noting that he needed a haircut soon.

"I enjoy spending time with you as well," Alex echoed as she leaned her shoulder into the former detective. "It's kind of nice to have someone that I can eat dinner with and relax with at night. For once in my life I'm arriving home from work at a reasonable time and eating something other than bagged salads and takeout."

"I guess it's a good thing that you saw me at the bar a few months back."

"I'm happy I decided to ditch my would-be hookup for you," Alex joked. "You're much better than I imagine he would've been."

"Ha, good to know," Olivia replied with a grin. "I'm glad you chose me over him too. At least I realize how amazing of a woman you are."

Alex rolled her eyes playfully. "Charmer."

"Hey sweetheart, why don't you hop up real quick so Alex and I can get more comfortable?" Noah grumbled but shifted off of both of their laps allowing Olivia to readjust against the arm of the couch. She patted the thin strip of couch next to her and Alex slipped between Olivia's body and the couch and settled down against the brunette's body. An arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders and Noah quickly crawled back onto their laps and settled against Alex's chest, his feet propped up on Olivia's lap.

Olivia woke a few hours later to the feeling of Noah squirming against her. "Noah, my sweet boy," she cooed as he tossed against her lap. "You're having a nightmare." Alex groaned softly as she too woke up, concerned by the sound of whimpers coming from Noah.

"Sweetie," Alex whispered as she ran a hand over his sweaty forehead. The little boy finally woke, looking up at his mother and Alex with sad eyes. He began to cry from what only Olivia could relate to his nightmare.

"It's okay Noah, you're okay sweetheart. It was just a bad dream." She pulled Noah to her chest and hugged him tightly.

After a few minutes, he calmed down and Olivia carried him down the hallway to his bedroom. "No," Noah whined as Olivia tried to set him down in his crib. "Sleep wit you and Lex," he whispered as he gripped onto her shirt so that she couldn't let him go. "Pwease?"

She couldn't resist those eyes. She turned to Alex, who was standing behind her and raised an eyebrow, asking a silent question since she had already confirmed that Alex was going to spend the night with her. "Of course, Liv. I'd never say no. He's perfectly fine sleeping with us." She was surprised at the response, so used to Ed saying no since he often wanted to have sex with her and a little boy in the room would ruin any chance he had.

"Okay my sweet boy. Alex is letting you sleep with us." He grinned wide as Olivia carried him to her room. He insisted on sleeping in between both of them, which was perfectly fine with Olivia. She still wasn't entirely sure that he understood that her bed was much higher off the ground than the couch that he was so used to climbing off of when he needed something.

Olivia pressed a kiss to his forehead as he cuddled up against her chest, having already stolen her pillow. "I love you, Noah." Noah merely mumbled indistinguishable words in response. "Good night, Alex."

Alex hummed sleepily in response, much like Noah and Olivia thought it was one of the cutest things that had come from the blonde's mouth.

"I swear between the two of you, you could convince me to do anything," Olivia whispered to herself.